Hubert Gautier

Hubert Gautier, (born Aug. 21, 1660, Nîmes, France—died Sept. 27, 1737, Paris), French engineer and scientist, author of the first book on bridge building.

After beginning a career in medicine, Gautier turned first to mathematics and then to engineering and served for 28 years as the engineer of the province of Languedoc. He was named inspector of bridges and highways of the realm in 1716, the year after publication of his Treatise on the Constructions of Roads in France. His Treatise on Bridges, which appeared in 1716, remained the standard work on bridge building for some 70 years.